Most website owners try to handle freelance staff for their convenience, but many times freelancers fail during the early stages. This article discusses all these factors about managing money, including why most freelancers fail early to provide guidelines about monetizing your business.

Before moving into the details about managing finances, you need to understand that any business or website needs time to grow; only after a period of time will money come in based on the generation of the value of your product. You need to sell something useful and valuable and that will bring you money in return. If you want to make money, quality is the main requirement. Managing finances is vital once you start earning money from your business. The following discussion explains the issues faced after money starts coming in and how to handle these issues. In addition, tips for handling money as a whole across your business will be included.

What is There to Manage?

It takes time for a business or site to grow, and you should always be prepared for the early failures that will result from a business. An owner needs to be patient enough to overcome such failures in order to sustain and work harder to welcome success in the future. If you are the only one maintaining your website, then losses will not be as financially significant; instead the loss will be in your effort, hard work, and time. However, if you are managing a staff, you will face financial losses as well. In the latter case, you need to handle your monetary issues carefully and manage your finances cautiously. To overcome such a crisis, it is imperative to have sufficient capital—long before you start a website. In addition, it is imperative to analyze and develop a strategy to balance your finances. Research your competitors, discuss the issues with experts and make your own plan. Do not be afraid to experiment. You need to experiment with new things and take some risk at times to succeed, subsequently analyzing the outcomes. The risks are important pebbles that need to be considered in order to move further.

The first important factor to bring money through your website is to make it popular and accessible to the audience. You can do so by advertising your site in a variety of ways, such as newspapers, other popular blogs, advertising banners and posts, and emails to generate name recognition. You can also use Google adsense which is currently one of the major marketing tools, although it comes with its own challenges.

There are many ways through which you can make your products sell and your effort count. One of the important factors in blogging is to brand it. One can brand a blog using various techniques, such as deciding the correct name and the correct content. In order to sell your content or products, you can try selling related products, thereby attracting an audience and offering them something valuable to share. You can experiment with selling products online. The following examples will help you understand this better.

• If you are an educational website, try selling books or ebooks online. You can also make a smaller attempt by selling solved question papers or term papers, research projects, and so on. There are many sites that earn revenues by selling related products, such as Lifehacker.com, huffingtonpost.com, and zenhabits.net.
• If you are a website focused on custom products, you can sell a few custom products online. For example, provide options for users to customize a t-shirt, mug, or card online; after you create it, deliver it to them. This is an easy way of generating reviews and has been used by many merchandise sites.
• If you are a website related to digital goods, you can sell digital products online such as software, music tracks, videos, and images. One example of using this method is photojojo.com.

All these ways of selling products do work for earning revenues. In order to sell these products online, you need to use certain resources to deal with the payments. Thus, you can generate revenue by advertising and selling products online. Both of these methods do work, and many sites benefit from them. These are ways of earning revenues or making efforts to create an income.

Once you are generating revenues, suppose you are making a sum of money and are handling a staff of employees to make it greater. Many website owners choose freelance staff over regular salaried staff in order to avoid factors like office space, holidays, and provident funds. However, there are many incidents where freelancers fail in the early stages. Before encountering this failure, first let’s understand the reasons why most freelancers fail early. Such understanding will help you resolve such issues and handle the finances for freelances in order to ensure success.

Major Reasons for Freelancers Failure

While dealing with a freelancer team you might face a host of financial issues. Even after paying your freelance staff you might see failures. In that case, first try to understand why your staff is failing and then try to resolve the identified issues. The following points summarize the most frequent reasons for freelancers’ failures.

• When you hire freelancers, you are not interacting with them face to face. You either mail or phone to speak about your requirements. If you are not clear and direct in making your initial points, you might fail to ensure that the freelancers understand your goals, which will lead to failure. Even if you feel that you are making yourself clear, the other parties might fail to understand that the information. Therefore, make sure that while sending information or listing your requirements you are mentioning guidelines with clear and simple language. Also highlight the major guidelines. Moreover, keep interacting with your team regularly and ask them for feedback in order to improve the understanding between you and your employees.
• Freelancer teams usually work in their own space and might not be as target and time conscious as a salaried team. Therefore, clarify the deadlines before assigning the project itself. Mention the target and specify the time limit. Do ask about the team’s convenience, but make sure that you define a time limit as well. This will help them to be aware of the deadline and complete the work within the fixed time.
• Defining a time limit helps a freelance team be more time conscious; however, it might also hamper your quality product. Therefore, try to strike a balance between the two. Also make the need for quality clear to the team during the initial stage. You can also do a quality check before handling the project to verify how your team will work in the future.
• Freelancers often fail due to a lack of financial security or payment issue. If you are maintaining a freelance team, make sure that you pay them at the correct time. Otherwise, they might feel a lack of security, which will lead them to quit or adopt a less serious attitude toward the work.
• Most freelancers use their own personal computers or laptops to complete their work. Their computers might not have enough RAM to support high memory software, which might cause a host of issues in the middle of the work. Therefore, if your project requires high memory software or files, clarify with your freelance team before starting the project. This will help avoid messy issues in the middle of the project.
• One of the major reasons for freelancers’ failures is the lack of reliability from both sides. Mutual trust and understanding are always required between an employer and an employee, and the importance becomes more evident in the case of a freelance team. Appoint persons you trust and try to assign small projects initially to check both efficiency and quality. You can hire from referrals or go to online sites that provide good freelancers, such as odesk.com and freelancer.com. In addition, when you hire a team, it is your responsibility to take care of their finances and maintain them in a timely manner. As they are not your regular salaried employees, they might fail to trust you if you ignore your responsibilities.
• Handling a freelance team is not very difficult if you follow certain rules. One of the most important rules is to interact with the team regularly. You need touch base with you team throughout the project to ensure that they work efficiently and build up their trust. Even after completing the project, maintain a minimum level of interaction so that your team does not feel left out and move away, which might hamper your future projects.
• While building regular interactions with your freelancer team, make sure that you do not overdo it. You do need to interact regularly, but you should understand your limits as well. Don’t make your interactions an irritation for your team. This might again result in losing your team or other adverse effects.
• Most freelancers also fail due to lack of quality checks throughout the process. If you are dealing with daily or weekly reporting, it is your responsibility to make a quality check regularly for every report. If you fail to do so and complain about it later or after completing the project, it will hamper the process in two ways. First, your project will be affected and might lead to wasted time. Second, when you ask the team to rework a project after its completion, your team will take it as an extra headache and you might end up losing the team.
• Freelancers also fail in many cases due to a lack of interest stemming from many problems. Therefore, it is important to keep a clear picture of everything in the beginning so that they can effectively respond if they are not fascinated with the project.
• Freelancer teams work from their own space and use their own resources. However, there might be a time when you can help them with resources without much effort. Don’t hesitate to do so. For example, if your freelancers require some references to work on your project, try to provide them yourself, thereby reducing their extra work. This will help them work more comfortably on your project.

These are the major reasons that freelancers fail. The points mentioned above and their supporting solutions are some of the more common issues. Try to analyze the factors and make your list of do’s and don’ts to make sure that your freelance team doesn’t fail. As the previously discussed factors indicate, interacting with the team and demonstrating reliability are keys to success. The latter is related to managing your finances with your freelance team, as discussed in the following section.

How to Manage Your Finances

Most website owners hire a freelance staff during the initial stages of the business for their own convenience and to avoid issues related to employing a regular salaried staff. Freelance staff members are definitely helpful, although they are not without their disadvantages. Freelancing comes with its own demerits (and can fail early in the process, as previously demonstrated). One of the most difficult issues in managing freelancing is based on monetary issues. The following recommendations make managing your finances easier.

Time is one of valuable assets for freelancers; as their work is based on time, time counts against the money they earn. Your failure as a website owner to finance your freelance team on time might hamper your business. Unlike a regular office team, freelancers work in their own space, meaning face-to-face contact is limited; consequently, both sides can lose trust in the other side. Therefore, from the beginning of your project, maintain invoices between you and your freelance team, which will help deal with payment issues professionally and will avoid misunderstandings. Invoices are used for accounting purpose and contain an invoice number, the amount payable, and details of freelancers’ name and address as well as the status of the payment. Manage your invoices even after payment is completed for future reference. You can also mention clauses on your invoice regarding payment modes so that neither you nor your team faces any payment issue while or after completing the work.

Freelancers often fail due to miscommunication. Both the employee and employer should share interactive sessions and build a good foundation of understanding. Failure due to misunderstanding can cause freelancers to abandon the work in the middle of the project, which will harm your business both financially and professionally. You might not be able to afford the loss of the team in the middle of the work. Therefore, it is beneficial to sign an agreement or contract with the freelance team, stating the major requirements therein. Such a contract might identify the time by which the work has to be completed, payment to be made in installments or at the completion of the work, and repercussions for leaving the work in the middle of the project. Maintaining contracts or agreements will help you avoid future monetary issues by helping you manage your finances better and will enable you to control the quality of the work through your own quality check efforts. Moreover, it is always beneficial to maintain paperwork along with your freelancing team. This will be helpful not just for you but for your team as well. Such an agreement or a contract will help them gain trust in you and also make them serious about the work, promoting the feeling of responsibility, which they will work hard to maintain. This approach will further avoid failures of freelancing due to the lack of seriousness.

You should also make the most of online banking or PayPal accounts, which is a very easy way of transacting money. When you are managing quite a number of freelancers, maintain a separate account for their payment. It is beneficial to maintain separate accounts for personal and professional dealings, which will help you maintain a balance between payment and income.

If you are new to hosting a website, you might need certain guidance regarding managing salaries for your freelance team. Consult with your friends and colleagues regarding payment issues. You can also check through salary.com, which helps both employers and employees make salary decisions. You can get an idea regarding how much to pay for a particular job against a specific time. The salary you offer or request might slightly differ as well based on experience, so keep track of your salary history to ensure a balance over time. Although more pay will cause you losses, less pay will make your team less serious about your work and result in more losses in the long run. Thus, it is always advisable to decide on a salary together (i.e., employer and employee). As money is the main root of every business, managing it properly will help build a healthy relationship with your team.

Conclusion

This article has outlined some of the fundamentals for managing finances for you freelancing team. Ultimately, quality is the only way to bring money to your website. Focus on providing quality work for your website and don’t compromise based on finances. Maintain accurate records for your entire business, including expenditures, investments, payment records, and income sources, to avoid monetary issues in the future. Most importantly, understand that it will take time to grow your business. A few losses in the early stages are natural; analyze such losses to understand and address them as quickly as possible. Interact with your freelance team, and do not panic if they make initial failures; rather, try to make them understand their faults and overcome them. Trust them to gain trust from them and be responsible toward them as an employer to make them responsible for their work. Managing finances will be easier and simpler within a healthy relationship; therefore, try to build one with your freelance team and maintain it throughout the process to build a healthy and successful business.

Image Credits

• Lighting a tuft of straw

Digital cameras eliminate the time needed for developing and scanning. When you own a digital camera, you can skip the darkroom and go strength to the desktop.

Photography, Then and Now

Before we take a closer look at digital photography, let’s pause and take a look back at photography’s roots.

The term photography has been around for little more than 160 years. The word is derived from the Greek words photos (light) and graphein (to draw) and was first coined by scientist Sir John Herschel in 1839. Two scientific processes, one optical and the other chemical, combined to make photography possible. Interestingly, both processes existed for hundreds of years before photography was invented.

The Optical process: Using Light to create Images

The equipment that became the foundation of modern photography was nothing like today’s cameras. The forerunners of today’s cameras were created from darkened rooms. Light came in through a small hole in the room’s window shade or wall, causing an upside-down image of what was outside to appear on the opposite wall. This device was called a camera obscura, which means “dark room” in Latin.

This is how a Camera Obscura works

The concept of the camera obscura has been around for thousands of years. It is believed that the great Greek philosopher, Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), knew the principle behind the camera obscura, as did the Arabian scholar, Hassan bin Hassan, who in the tenth century described in his manuscripts what can be considered a camera obscura.

Later, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) wrote about the uses of a camera obscura and depicted one in a drawing dated 1519. During the same period, a Venetian named Daniel Barbaro recommended that the camera obscura be used as an aid to drawing and perspective. And in 1558, Giovanni Battista Della Porta wrote a book called Natural Magic that told of the camera obscura being utilized as a tool by draftsmen and illustrators. From that time onwards, it is thought that many artists employed the camera obscura, including Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) and British artists Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), first president of the Royal Academy of Art in London, and Paul Sandby (1725-1809), a founding member of the Royal academy.

As time went by, the camera obscura grew similar in size. Made from a wooden box, it had a lens attached at one end and a mirror at the other. The mirror was positioned at a 45-degree angle, with a glass plate above it. By placing a piece of thin paper over the glass, an individual could trace the image projected there.

The Camera Obscura above is in the collection of historical apparatus of the National University of Ireland in Galway. It was used for sketching; the tracing paper was placed on the missing glass inside the folding hood, and a 45° mirror inside the box reflected the image onto the paper.

The Chemical Process: Bringing Images to Paper

In the seventeenth century, Robert Boyle, a chemist and founder of the Royal Society, reported that silver chloride turned dark under exposure, but he mistakenly believed that it was exposure to air-rather than exposure to light-that caused this to happen.

During the 1700s and 1800s, several peoples were experimenting with photosensitive materials. One of these, a German physicist named Johann Heinrich Schulze, discovered in 1727 that light could be used to change substances. He experimented with silver, nitric acid and chalk, and found that bright sunlight turned the mixture to black. Although his discovery, in conjunction with the camera obscura, provided the basic technology for photography, it was not until the nineteenth century that photography came into being.

In the early 1800s, Frenchman Joseph Niepce discovered that exposing bitumen, an asphalt-like substance, to light caused it to harden. He coated metal plates with bitumen, and then exposed them to light inside a camera obscura. After an exposure of eight hours, the plate was washed and dipped in acid, which etched the exposed metal. The last step was to coat the plate with ink and strike it on paper, producing a print of the original image. Niepce named this process heliography. Niepce is regarded as having produced the first permanent photographic image.

View from the Window at Le Gras (La cour du domaine du Gras) was the first successful permanent photograph, created by Nicéphore Niépce (born Joseph Niépce) in 1826 at Saint-Loup-de-Varennes.

At about the same time that Niepce developed heliography, another Frenchman, Louis Daguerre, a successful commercial artist, was experimenting with the same process. Niepce and Daguerre formed a partnership in 1829, but Niepce died a few years later. Daguerre continued to exposing the silver to iodine fumes, creating a silver-iodide salt that made the plate photosensitive. He put the plate in the camera obscura and exposed it to light. The silver-iodide darkened, but eventually the entire image turned black.

Quite by accident, deguerre found a solution to his dilemma. One day he left an exposed plate in a cabinet where mercury was stored. When he removed the plate, he realized that the developing had ceased and the image had stopped darkening. He named his invention the daguerreotype. When Louis Daguerre showed the first daguerreotypes to the public in the winter of 1838-1839, Parisians were amazed by the amount of detail they contained. Some likened looking through a telescope. Daguerre’s rival for the title of inventor of modern photography, William Henry Fox Tablot, had his detail of a daguerreotype.

At about the same time that Daguerre was developing the daguerreotype, Englishman William Henry Fox Talbot was experimenting with a similar process. However, Talbot used paper instead of metal plates and produced a “negative” image. He then took the paper negative, waxed it to make it translucent, and photographed it to produce a “positive” image. He called the resulting positive-negative process collotype. Talbot is sometimes hailed as the father of modern photography, since the basis of the process he developed is used in photography today, but unquestionably Daguerre, too, was an essential contributor to photography’s development.

The Women’s Perspective

Although the originators of modern photography were mostly men, women were also experimenting with the photographic process during the nineteenth century. While William Henry Fox Talbot was developing the positive-negative process, his wife was conducting her own experiments, which she detailed in writing in 1839. And in major American cities, a growing number of women were working with daguerreotypes. In 1850, one periodical declared that in New York there were 71 daguerreotype studios, with about 11 women employed in them.

Women were attracted t photography because in the 19th and early 20th centuries it was one of the few professions deemed acceptable for their participation. There were also many women enjoying photography as a hobby. Camera clubs were formed, and various art salons began to exhibit the work of amateur women photographers.

One notable female photographer was Gertrude Stanton Kasebier (1852-1934). Having studied at Pratt Institute in New York, she originally planned to be a portrait painter. However, she became interested in photography while student and her first solo exhibit took place in 1896 at the Boston Camera Club. Soon after, she opened a portrait photography studio in New York City. Her work became popular and she went on to be a founding member of the Photo-secession group, the Pictorial Photographs of America, and the Women’s Federation of the photographer’s Association of America.

Although histories of photography may focus on the men who pioneered the field, it is good to remember that women, too, played a part in its early days.

Daguerreotypes’ Popularity Spreads

Daguerre’s process spread throughout the world, with the first daguerreotypes being made in America in 1839. At first the process of creating an exposure was quite lengthy. Moving objects could not be recorded, and it was difficult to obtain portraits.

Above is the first daguerreotype made by Louis Daguerre himself, claimed to be the first to complete the full process.

Individuals in Europe and the United States began experimenting to improve the optical, chemical and practical aspects of the daguerreotype process to make it more workable for creating portraits. In 1840 Alexander Wolcott opened a “daguerrean parlor” in New York where he created tiny portraits using a camera having a mirror instead of a lens. Wolcott’s daguerrean parlor was the earliest known photography studio.

Josef Petzval and Friedrich Voigtander, both of Vienna, revolutionized the daguerreotype process. Petzwal produced a portrait lens that was about 20 times faster than had been previously used, and Voigtlander reconstructed Daguerre’s wooden box into one that was smaller and easier to transport. At about the same time, Franz Kratochwilz, another Viennese, developed and published a chemical acceleration process that increased the sensitivity of the developing plate. With these valuable improvements, exposure time was reduced to 20 to 40 seconds, and daguerreotyping became a flourishing business, especially in the United States.

Eastman Instrumental in Modern Photography

In the latter part of the 1800s, American George Eastman advanced the photographic process to such an extent that his influence is still felt today. In 1879 he invented an emulsion-coating machine that enabled the mass production of photographic dry plates, and in 1880 he began to manufacture them. In the early 1880s Eastman began experimenting with emulsion-support bases other than glass. Working with a colleague, he developed a roll film holder, a flexible film, and a machine to produce the film. They layered the film with gelatin emulsions on a paper backing, and then stripped off the backing after development.

By 1885 Eastman American Film, the first transparent film negative was introduced. 3 years later, Kodak was born, and the Kodak Camera was introduced. The camera, which sold for $25, came loaded with 100 exposures on a film roll. Once all of the film had been used up, the camera was sent back to the Eastman Dry Plate and Film Co. in Rochester, New York, for developing. One year later, Kodak #2, the first commercial transparent roll film, was brought to market.

An advertisement of the first model of the Kodak camera from ‘The Photographic Herald and Amateur Sportsman (1988-89)’

The Eastman Dry Plate and Film Co. became the Eastman Company in 1889, and then Eastman Kodak Company of New York in 1892. In 1895 the Pocket Kodak camera was announced, followed in 1900 by the first mass-marketed camera, the Brownie, which sold for $1. And with the Brownie, photography was no longer the province of only a few. With its wide availability and affordable price, the Brownie camera allowed even regular Joes to take up photography. This was the beginning of Americans’ love affair with the snapshot.

The Digital Debate

Which are better: traditional film (analog) cameras or digital cameras? This issue is hotly debated, and it appears that the definitive answer will remain elusive for some time. Depending on whom you talk to, digital cameras are the be-all and end-all, and everyone who is anyone is rushing out to buy a digicam. But there are diehard traditional photographers who are quick to maintain that the quality of photographs produced by digital cameras cannot match the quality provided by a film camera, at least not at the same price point. In a nutshell, these are some of the specific points being hotly debated:

• Are digital prints as good as 35mm prints? Some folks think digital prints are actually better! With a 2-megapixel camera, digital prints can rival 35mm prints in quality. Working with a good printer, you can produce astounding images.
• The ability to edit on the fly is one f the main draws of the digicam. Rather than having to wade through poor shots and discard them, you can quickly delete any bloopers from your camera, leaving only the cream of the crop in memory.
• It’s just plain fun. There is something tremendously appealing about using a digital camera. It’s partly the instant gratification that comes from being able to upload your memory card immediately after a shoot. It also known that you can effortlessly share your pix with anyone, anywhere, thanks to the internet and e-mail. Free photo-sharing websites also make it enjoyable and easy to share photos with online albums.
• The chance to have some creative recreation with your photos using a software program is another strong draw of digital photography. No more darkrooms. Now with the help of your computer, you can enhance your photos in a million different ways. Or you can make greeting cards, illuminate personal or business newsletters, or add pizzazz to your website.

Now for the flip side:

• Film is available everywhere; memory cards are not. If you are traveling far from home, it may not be as easy to pick up more memory cards as it would be to buy more film. And it’s certainly not as cheap. You can’t just pop into a convenience store to stock up on memory cards. If you are travelling to a remote area, you won’t be apt to find CompactFlash or Microdrives available if you need them. Instead, you will need to make a rather substantial investment in memory before ever leaving home.
• Many photographers believe that film still offers better resolution than digicams.
• Digital cameras run into problems when you are shooting in low-light locations. Film offers greater sensitivity to light, allowing the photographer a greater chance of getting a good shot in low light. With your digital camera, you may need to add extra sources of light in order to get a good photo.
• Digicams run into parallax problems more frequently than film cameras.
• There are more lenses available for 35mm cameras. Fewer lenses mean fewer ways to be creative with your digicam.
• Film cameras provide quicker shutter response than digital cameras, resulting in better sport and action shots.

Benefits of Going Digital

Not everyone needs, or wants, a digital camera. If you are satisfied with your film camera, you may not want to purchase a digital camera. This is especially true if you do not own a computer and are not planning to purchase one soon or at all. But there are some distinct advantages to digital photography, which you should consider before making your decision. Many folks find that it pays to have both a 35mm SLR camera and a digital camera. Here is why digital photography is so appealing:

It’s the wave of the future

Using a digital camera means experimenting cutting-edge photography. About every 3 or 4 weeks, a new model digital camera makes its appearance in the marketplace. And digital cameras’ capabilities are expanding at what seems like the speed of light. In fact, remarkable audio and video machines are being manufactured.

No more film

With digital cameras, you don’t need to spend money on film or agonize over what type of film will best meet your needs. And if you are careful with your camera’s storage, you will never again find yourself wanting to take that beautiful sunset but powerless to do so because you just used up your last roll or film.

Big savings

No more film means no more processing costs. Think of the amount of money you will save over the course of a lifetime on processing alone if you go digital. Although the price of a digital camera might be higher than the price of a comparable 35mm camera, not having to continually invest in film represents big savings.

Instant gratification

As soon as you shoot a picture, you can immediately check the image. The immediate gratification of digital photography sure beats the time you used to spend waiting for your film to be developed, or developing it yourself in a darkroom. Also, being able to check your shots while in the field means you can delete “outtakes” as you go along, leaving you with only the best images at the end of the day.

Creative control

Even with the all of the benefits described above, one of the main reasons a photographer is swayed to purchase a digital camera is for the creative freedom it provides. Buy a digital camera, and your computer acts as your digital darkroom, allowing you to manipulate your images in a variety of ways. For instance, you can eliminate red eye, change the background of a picture, add or subtract images, turn black-and-white image into color, crop or rotate your picture, and undertake hundreds of other modifications-all with the click of a mouse.

Share the joy

With your digital camera and e-mail, you can quickly and easily share your photographs with relatives and friends around the globe. And now many websites allow you to set up albums of your images for others to view at their leisure. Just imagine how pleased Mom, Dad and Aunt Isabel will be when you e-mail them the latest snapshots of your bouncing baby.

It’s good for business

If you’re a small business owner, a digital camera can be a lifesaver. For instance, real estate agents can quickly snap a photo of a property and e-mail it to a client or download it to their website. Photographers and journalists can send images to their editors, whether they’re in the next town or halfway around the globe. Antiques dealers who market their goods on auction websites such as eBay can download images and get auctions rolling the very same day. For many professionals working in a variety of businesses, a digital camera can become an indispensable tool.

The Other Side of the Coin

Even with all the benefits that digital cameras have to offer, these are some drawbacks to digital photography that you also should consider before running out and buying your own digital camera. Depending on how you utilize a camera, the level of skill you possess, and your dexterity with a computer, digital photography can seem heaven-sent or a total turnoff.

Image quality

To produce a film-like quality photo, a digital camera would need to be filled with so many chips that its price would be astronomical. If you are going to enlarge an image to poster size, you may be better off using an analog camera to take the shot. However, if you plan to use the image for a website or your personal online album, the digital camera will work just fine for you.

Darker images

Digital cameras are not as sensitive to light as film cameras. Outdoors, you probably won’t run into a problem. But indoors you may find that it is more difficult to get a decent exposure with a digital camera. Even with flash, you may need to add more lighting.

Distorted color

Sometimes a digital camera gets the color wrong. It won’t be drastic mistake, such as red lake or a purple sun, but you might get orange instead of yellow, or purple instead of blue.

From SLR to Digital

Silicon Film technologies, inc. has developed an electronic film cartridge, called (e)film, which allows a 35mm SLR camera to capture digital images. The electronic film cartridge is an insert that fits into the back of a 35mm SLR body. It uses 65 MB of nonvolatile flash memory to capture and store up to twenty-four 36-bit digital images and can be reused thousands of times. With (e)film you can go digital without the expense of purchasing a new camera, plus you can use all of the lenses, flash units, and filters you already own.

Commercial Uses for Digital Photography

The pros know that digital cameras can provide some benefits that analog cameras cannot. Here is just a sampling of how professionals in many fields use digital cameras and digital images to make their jobs easier and improve the work they do:

• Photographers use digital cameras in the studio to shoot everything from fruit to fashion. They can quickly check the resulting image, and adjust as necessary. Once shot, images can be manipulated via image-editing software, and then e-mailed to clients and vendors.
• Journalists love digital photos because they can be immediately transmitted to their editors via telephone lines or wireless connections. Once in the hands of their editors, the images require no lab processing; they can be used at once. The low resolution of digital cameras is not a problem for newspapers because they use low-res printing.
• Scientists use digital cameras to take videos and photographs through microscopes.
• Law enforcement agencies love the quick processing, easy enhancement, and online distribution of digital images.
• Doctors and dentists find digital cameras handy for snapping before and after shots of patients. The results can be used for reference, attached to patient charts, or submitted with insurance claims.
• Astronomers have used digital image sensors for years. In 1997 NASA’s Pathfinder spacecraft carried to Mars a surface rover called Sojourner. Two digital imaging sensors helped Sojourner negotiate the rough surface of the planet. The orbiting Hubble Space Telescope has a CCD detector with a 1,600 X 1,600 pixel array.

Is Digital For You?

In the end, it’s your call whether or not a digital camera is right for you. Once you’ve sized up your needs and considered both the pros and cons of going digital, you’ll be able to determine if a digital camera should be part of your future.

Although no one can predict the future, it seems likely that the trend of manufacturing cameras with more pixels will continue. Look for better resolution and higher-quality photographs. Also, camera manufacturers are likely to improve digicams so that the amount of shutter lag is reduced.

Image Credits

• Wikipedia
• Digital vs Film camera
• Giving a second warning
• Businessman pointing thumb down

It works on just about every platform, is compatible with older browsers, and handles errors gracefully. You can create powerful, easy-to-maintain, future-proof web pages. Many common tasks are now simplified, putting more power in your hands.

In this presentation, you’ll find a variety of highly-creative, beautiful and most importantly inspirational designs that are coded in HTML5.

The main purpose here is to stimulate your creativity and to inspire your imagination to create awesome designs because your website represents you and your brand.

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What is HTML5

HTML5 is being developed as the next major revision of HTML (HyperText Markup Language), the core markup language of the World Wide Web. HTML5 is the proposed next standard for HTML 4.01, XHTML 1.0 and DOM Level 2 HTML. It aims to reduce the need for proprietary plug-in-based rich internet application (RIA) technologies such as Adobe Flash, Microsoft Silverlight, Apache Pivot, and Sun JavaFX.

For those, who don’t know what is HTML5? And what it can do? Then follow the link below for detail introduction.

• HTML5 From Wikipedia
• Dive Into HTML5
• A vocabulary and associated APIs for HTML5

Creative Examples of Websites Built Using HTML5

Throughout history, great artists always found new ways to show their creativity to express themselves and create new trends and techniques to remark their work apart from the rest of the crowd. The Definition of design is more critical in modern terms as now design is a way of communication; and, more specifically, Web design is a well define platform for showcasing your skills. There is no ‘Good’ and ‘Bad’ in design. It always defined as ‘Different’.

La Moulade

Website Link

Anna Safroncik

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Green Campus Guide

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Scandalous Dirt

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Dataveyes

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Social Summit

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Nikevision

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Shoppub

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Art4Web

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Thrivesolo

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Learn Lake Nona

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Brandberry

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Black5

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Acumen Fund

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Mezcal Buen Viaje

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Veloster

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Kiplin

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Create Digital Media

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Visions of Beauties

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Ala

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Sony Tablet

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Ascension Latorre

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Dondup

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Flow Festival

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Crypteks

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Massive Digital Creative Agency

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Luhsetea

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Abitofextra

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Hall88

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The Lounge

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Polaroid

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Pub Design

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Inze.it

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Slavery Footprint

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Dotfusion

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Jessica Caldwell

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Beetle

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Festival

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All Together Now

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Rally Interactive

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Protest

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Fashion Photography

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Neotokio

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255 Creative

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Hyper

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Divups

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Adventure World

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Asiance

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Michelberger Booze

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NeverBland

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Uchitomi

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Beautiful Explorer

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Zeitgeistbot

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Vivas Communication

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Find Something Missing?

While compiling this showcase, it’s always a possibility that we missed some other great HTML5 design resources. Feel free to share it with us.

There are things that excite the human senses. Aromatherapy and the sense of smell bring about mood and emotional change. Taste, touch and audible sensations bring about the same changes, so it’s no surprise that visuals also bring about emotional changes in humans. Color is light and light is energy. Scientists have found that actual physiological changes take place in human beings when they are exposed to certain colors. Colors can stimulate, excite, depress, tranquilize, increase appetite and create a feeling of warmth or coolness. This is known as Chromodynamics.

In 1666, English scientist, Sir Isaac Newton, discovered that when pure white light passes through a prism it separates into all of the visible colors. Newton also found that each color is made up of a single wavelength and cannot be separated any further into other colors. Color has the power to suggest mood and emotion and, used the correct way, you can move people to become excited, fearful, playful, relaxed and powerful.

The big fast food giants have similar colors for their brands, which stimulate and excite. Oddly enough, Whataburger, a smaller chain, uses muted colors for a friendly retro feel. Coke also uses the power of a warm red, giving the feel of a lazy summer day. Which website entices you the most?

Our personal and cultural associations affect our experience of color. Colors are seen as warm or cool mainly because of long-held (and often cross-cultural) associations. Yellow, orange and red are associated with the heat of sun and fire; green, blue and violet with the coolness of leaves, sea and the sky. Warm colors seem closer to the viewer than cool colors, but vivid cool colors can overwhelm light and subtle warm colors. Using warm colors for foreground and cool colors for background enhances the perception of depth and suggests peace and tranquility. Warm colors in the foreground and cool colors in the background can suggest a sense of foreboding.

Look at this photo of the five U.S. Presidents. Which one commands more respect from the colors they wear? Don’t go by their records as Commanders-in-Chief or you’ll say, “none!”

Several ancient cultures, including the Egyptians and Chinese, practiced chromotherapy, or using colors to heal. Chromotherapy is sometimes referred to as light therapy or colorology and is still used today as a holistic or alternative treatment.

In this treatment:

Red was used to stimulate the body and mind and to increase circulation.

Yellow was thought to stimulate the nerves and purify the body.

Orange was used to heal the lungs and to increase energy levels.

Blue was believed to soothe illnesses and treat pain.

Indigo shades were thought to alleviate skin problems.

Although red, yellow and orange are in general considered high-arousal colors and blue, green and most violets are low-arousal hues, the brilliance, darkness and lightness of a color can alter the psychological message. While a light blue-green appears to be tranquil, wet and cool, a brilliant turquoise, often associated with a tropical ocean setting, will pop more to the viewer’s eye. The psychological association of a color is often more meaningful than the visual experience of the elements themselves.

Why Color Choice Is So Important To Your Designs

It’s more than just the emotional factor of the colors you choose. Colors act upon the body as well as the mind. Red has been shown to stimulate the senses and raise the blood pressure, while blue has the opposite effect and calms the mind and body.

The natural palette screams calm, harmony and “green movement.”

People will actually gamble more and make riskier bets when seated under a red light as opposed to a blue light. That’s why cities with gambling institutions use a lot of red neon lights.

How often have you stopped to admire a flowerbed in full bloom? Expert gardeners arrange the flowers according to their color for extra vibrancy. With a little knowledge of good color relationships, you can make colors work better for you in your business graphics and other applications.

A smart use of a limited color palette by the American Express Company. The Inc. website is plain, neutral and boring. The AmEx ad stands out as the most important element on the page. True blue, it inspires confidence and the burst of color makes it hard to look at anything else.

Studies have also shown that certain colors can have an impact on performance. Exposing students to the color red prior to an exam has been shown to have a negative impact on test performance. More recently, researchers discovered that the color red causes people to react with greater speed and force, something that might prove useful during athletic activities.

Black is the color of mystery, authority, power and evil. It is popular in fashion because it supposedly makes people appear thinner. It is also considered stylish and timeless. Black can also be accented with any other color as it is the ultimate neutral color, albeit the most powerful.

White is cleanliness, sterility, innocence and purity. White reflects light and is considered a summer color. White is popular in decorating and in fashion because, as with black but at the opposite end of the spectrum, it is light, neutral, and goes with everything.

Red is the most emotionally-intense color. It is the color of blood, the color of the devil, Mars (the God of war) but also the color of a Valentine Day heart. Red stimulates a faster heartbeat and breathing. Red ties are known as “power ties” and are favored by CEOs and politicians. Red cars, according to police statistics, are popular targets for thieves. In decorating, red is usually used as an accent to draw attention in a room or for a doorway.

The most romantic color, pink, which is a shade of red, is more tranquil and considered feminine. Candy is often pink and it is a color that inspires happiness.

A friendly and inviting candy store’s website makes your mouth water and your teeth hurt just by looking at it. A bright, retro feel brings up happy emotions.

Blue, as the color of a clear sky and a deep ocean, is one of the most popular colors. It causes the opposite reaction as red. Blue causes the body to produce calming, tranquilizing chemicals, so it is often used in bedrooms. Blue can also be cold and depressing. Fashion consultants recommend wearing blue to job interviews because it symbolizes loyalty. People are more productive in blue rooms. Studies allege that weightlifters are able to handle heavier weights in blue gyms.

Green symbolizes nature and the current recycling, save-the-planet movement. It is the easiest color on the eye and is reported to improve vision. It is a calming, refreshing color. People waiting to appear on TV sit in “green rooms” to relax. Hospitals often use green because it relaxes patients. Dark green is masculine, conservative, and implies wealth. It is also a color of luck as in a four-leaf clover.

Yellow is a happy, cheerful color that draws attention, especially when paired with a strong contrasting color. While it is considered an optimistic color, people lose their tempers more often, and babies will cry more, in yellow rooms. It is the most difficult color for the eye to take in, so it can be overpowering if overused. Try looking at a yellow wall of a website for a long period and you will most probably get a splitting headache. It is believed, however, that yellow enhances concentration and that it speeds metabolism.

Purple is the color of royalty and connotes luxury, wealth, and sophistication. It is also feminine and romantic. However, because it is rare in nature, purple can appear artificial and often causes a “vibration” when not used in a proper color palette.

Brown is solid, reliable and is the color of earth. It is abundant in nature but varying shades have very different emotional responses. Light brown implies genuineness while dark brown is similar to wood or leather. Brown can also be sad and wistful. Brown is often considered a “male” color.

The Mix Of Colors

In the same way that one color can appear different in different surroundings, two similar colors may appear to be identical under some conditions. Even though the two symbols are actually slightly different tones, the contrasting backgrounds cause our brains to think that they are the same color. This effect is harder to control, but be aware of it because it can affect your graphics in hidden ways.

The feeling you get when looking at bright complementary colors next to each other is a vibrating or pulsing effect. It seems that the colors are pulling away from each other. It’s caused by an effect called “color fatiguing”. When one color strikes a portion of the retina long enough, the optic nerve begins sending confused signals to the brain. This confusion is intensified by the complementary colors.

The BoingBoing logo, a warm red, will have different effects as the color is changed. The heart-pounding yellow is a little too bright (although the contrast is attention grabbing) and the pure violet at the bottom is too dark and vibrates, which will cause the viewer to move off the site more quickly.

Mixing brilliant complementary colors gets attention, but should be used with restraint. The effect is disconcerting and can make your eyes feel like they’ve been shaken around.

If you want to use complementary colors without causing discomfort, you can outline each of the colors with a thin neutral white, gray or black line. The outlines separate the two colors, which help your brain keep them separated.

When two very similar colors touch in an image, both colors appear to wash out and become indistinct. This is because the borders between the colors are difficult to distinguish and your brain blurs the colors together.

Personal Preferences

Color preference is subjective. If you face a committee of critics of your design, you will receive several different requests for color changes… for completely different colors. People have a connection with certain colors due to their experiences with objects of those colors. A person who has positive experiences with a favorite blue toy as a child will generally like the color blue even later into life.

This works in a negative manner as well. Facing a committee with a line of designs, a marketing person refused to allow a cherry red to be used. It was an integral part of the design as it was part of the client’s branded style guide, so some argued the color was appropriate. After point and counter point was argued to exhaustion, the marketing person admitted her aversion to the color was from a girl who wore that color of lipstick who had tormented her in school. Irrational to others but not to her, as the color made fear and anxiety well up in her. The committee did look past her preference and she constantly complained about the client’s products, not allowing any of them to be placed in her office… although we would hide them in her desk drawers and messenger bag.

By the same token, the red and green colors are ignored by designers suffering even the slightest color blindness as those two colors hold the most common problems in color blind individuals.

Most probably a standard background picked up by the designer of this site, the mix of colors detracts from the site content. Sites with colorful content (art and products) should use neutral colors to frame the color that will be within the images themselves. More often than not, sites are either white or black to allow the focus to be on the colorful content.

If you’re going to trash someone else for bad web design, first make sure your color choices aren’t bloody awful!

Yes… everything about this site, done to show an example of a bad website, is an abomination against mankind. How long can you look at it before losing your lunch?

A strong visual with the all-black background — perhaps a bit too strong for the subject? While Harley-Davidson leans on their black and orange brand colors, and it works well for them, beware of using too strong of a dark palette. It can be striking but also a bit heavy and give the viewer a sense of dread and claustrophobia.

The WORLD WIDE web demands smart choices for a web design. In China, red indicates luck, while in Nigeria and Germany it means the exact opposite. International corporations, at least the smart ones, will study colors and the effect they have on different cultures. Losing an entire population of consumers due to using the wrong color is a huge hit on profit and brand awareness.

What are YOUR personal preferences? Too often a designer will lean on his or her personal likes or dislikes for a color palette and that can ruin a great design with ineffective colors for the end user. We need to put away the convention of personal choices when designing for the demographics of the consumer and that can be difficult.

Making The Right Choices

A friend of mine was the creative director for a large corporation that encouraged innovation not only in design but demanded color palettes out of the ordinary. He confided in me that they used candy for their color palettes.

“We scanned a pack of Easter-color M&Ms and then used it for our spring line,” he told me while we sat in his office. “I’ve also used Jujyfruits, Skittles and Sour Patch Kids!”

So, who says that’s a bad way to create a palette? There are color generators and books with color breakdowns for designers to use. One can scan a piece of textile, a photo of a beautiful sunset, an ocean scene or a handful of dirt, sand or a piece of wood and create a palette of colors that will blow away viewers. Just be mindful of the colors used as you would the placement of elements. In design, everything, all elements, type, color and images are drawn together to elicit a response from the viewer/consumer. They all must work in harmony, just like the colors in nature.

In the following steps you will learn how to create jeans in Adobe Illustrator. We will study several important techniques. You’ll learn how to use blends, gradient, add effects, and create strokes in Appearance panel.

Let’s get started!

Final Result

Let’s see what you will be creating in this tutorial.

Create A Jeans Vector in Illustrator

Step 1:

Create a 600px by 600px, RGB document.

Step 2:

2.1. To get started, pick the Pen Tool (P) and use it to create a shape as shown below. Continue to draw the black and the red shapes too.

2.2. Reselect the white shape and then go to the Object menu/ Path/ Offset Path. In the Offset Path box, enter a -5px Offset and click OK.

Select the black shape and do the same as the previous step.

2.3. Fill the white and the black shapes created in the step 1 with 70% black and add a 1px stroke (70% black).

2.4. Reselect the shape selected as shown below and go to the Effect menu/ Texture/ Texturizer. Follow the data shown below and then click OK.

2.5. Select the white shape and fill it with R=7, G=10, B=34 (Stroke=None).

2.6. While the resulting shape selected, go to the Effect menu/ Texture/ Texturizer. Enter the data shown below and then click OK.

2.7. Do the same with the right part of jeans.

2.8. Pick the Pen Tool (P) and use it to create the yellow shape as shown below.

Fill this shape with R=7, G=10, B=34 (Stroke=None).

While the resulting shape selected, go to the Effect menu/ Texture/ Texturizer. Enter the data shown below and then click OK.

2.9. Continue with the Pen Tool (P). Draw the yellow shape as shown below.

Fill the resulting shape with R=35, G=31, B=32 and add a 1px stroke (R=109, G=110, B=113). In the Variable Width Profile section from the Properties bar, select the Width Profile 2.

Sent the resulting shape to back (Ctrl + Shift + Left Square Bracket).

Step 3:

3.1.Create the yellow shapes as shown below by the Pen Tool (P).

3.2. Then fill the yellow shapes with the linear gradient.

3.3. Duplicate (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F) the shape selected as shown below once time.While the resulting shape selected, go to the Window menu/ Appearance (Shift + F6). In the Appearance panel, set fill = None. Then add a stroke by click on the Add New Stroke button. Made this stroke 5px wide and set the colors at R=35, G=31, B=32. Then click on the Add New Stroke button again. Made the new added stroke 3px wide and set the colors at R=109, G=110, B=113. Continue adding a stroke .Made it 2px wide and set the colors at R=230, G=231, B=232.

While the resulting shape selected, return to the Appearance panel and click on the Stroke section of the 2px Stroke. Select the Width Profile 2 from the Profile section

Select anchor points highlighted with yellow and click on the "Cut path at selected anchor points" button from the Properties bar. Then remove two shapes as shown in the second image.

Duplicate (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F) the shape selected once time and then move the resulting shape to new position as shown in the first image below. Next select both shapes as shown in the second image and press (Ctrl + Left Square Bracket) several times to send it behind the light shape.

3.4. Select the light shape as shown in the first image below and go to the Object menu/ Path/ Offset Path. In the Offset Path box, enter a -2px Offset and then click OK. While the resulting shape selected, go to the Window menu/ Stroke (Ctrl + F10). Follow the data as shown in the second image below.

3.5. Select four anchor points highlighted with yellow and then click on the " Cut path at selected anchor points" button from the Properties bar. Next remove two shapes selected as shown in the second image.

3.6. Duplicate (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F) the shape selected and move the resulting shape to the position as shown below.

3.7. Duplicate (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F) the shape selected as shown below. While the resulting shape selected, pick the Eyedropper tool (I) and click on the shape highlighted with the yellow arrow. Next select two anchor points highlighted with yellow and click on the "Cut path at selected anchor points" button from the Properties bar.

Remove the shape highlighted with the red arrow. Then select the shape of the remaining result and send it backward (Ctrl + Left Square Bracket)

Duplicate (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F) the light shape as shown below again. While the resulting shape selected, go to the Object menu/ Path/ Offset Path. In the Offset Path box, enter a -2px Offset and then click OK. Then pick the Eyedropper Tool (I) and click on the shape highlighted with the yellow arrow. Next remove the shape highlighted with the red arrow (do the same as the step 3.5).

 Repeat the same techniques for the other two light shapes. In the end your shape should look roughly like the image below.

3.8. Duplicate (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F) two shapes selected as shown below once time. Then pick the Eyedropper Tool (I) and click on the shape highlighted with the yellow arrow. Finally move two resulting shapes a few pixels up.

3.9. Use the Pen tool (P) and create a shape as shown in the first image. Fill this shape with black color. Then duplicate this shape once time (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F). Set the fill of the resulting shape to None and add a 1px Stroke (white color). Pick the Type on a Path Tool (Font: Madiad pro, Style: Regular, Size: 5px, Color: R=96, G=57, B=19), move to the white shape and click on. Next press the L key several times to get the result as shown in the final image below. Select and group (Ctrl+G) all shapes created in this step.

3.10. Pick the Ellipse Tool (L) and create two shapes as shown below. Fill the bigger shape with black color. Next fill the remaining shape with the radial gradient.

3.11. Create a shape as shown in the first image and fill it with 90% black (stroke=None). Then create a shape as shown in the third image and fill it with 90% black (stroke=None). Lowered its Opacity to 80% and send it behind the small ellipse shape (Ctrl + Left Square Bracket).

3.12. Continue draw a shape as shown in the first image and fill it with white color. Next lowered its Opacity to 80% and send it behind the small ellipse shape. While the resulting shape selected, go to the Effect menu/ Blur/ Gaussian Blur. In the Gaussian Blur box, enter a 3.1px Radius and then click OK. Select and group (Ctrl + G) all shapes created from beginning step 3.11 to this time.

3.13. Move the newly created group to the correct position as shown below. Next select and group (Ctrl+G) both groups.

3.14. Continue place the group created in the previous step to the correct position as shown below.

Step 4:

4.1. Use the Pen Tool (P) to create a shape as shown below.

4.2. Fill it with R=18, G=26, B=51 and add a 2px Stroke (R=109, G=110, B=113).

4.3. While the resulting shape selected, go to the Effect menu/ Texture/ Texturizer. Follow the data as shown below and then click OK. Finally lowered its Opacity to 40%

4.4. Duplicate the resulting shape once time (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F). Pick the Add Anchor Points Tool (+) and add two points in positions highlighted with yellow. Then remove anchor points highlighted with red. Continue with the Add Anchor Points Tool (+). Use it to add some anchor points and move them to positions highlighted with yellow.

4.5. While the resulting shape selected, go to the Effect menu/ Texture/ Texturizer. Follow the data as shown below and then click OK.

4.6. Duplicate the shape selected as shown below once time (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F). While the resulting shape selected, go to the Window menu/ Appearance. Then follow the data as shown below.

4.7. While the resulting shape selected, use the Direct Selection Tool (A), hold down Shift and click on four anchor points highlighted with red. Then click on the "Cut path at selected anchor points" button from the Properties bar. Next remove two shapes selected as shown in the second image below.

4.8. Select the bottom shape of the remaining results and go to the Effect menu/ Stylizer/ Drop Shadow. Follow the data as shown below and then click OK. Finally lowered its Opacity to 40%.

4.9. Select the top of the remaining results and duplicate it once time (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F). While the resulting shape selected, press the Down arrow key five times and follow the data as shown below.

4.10. Pick the Pen Tool (P) and create a shape as shown in the first image. Then fill it with R=7, G=10, B=34 and add a 2px Stroke (R=128, G=130, B=133).

4.11. While the resulting shape selected, go to the Effect menu/ Texture/ Texturizer. Follow the data as shown below and then click OK. Finally send this shape to back (Ctrl + Shift + Left Square Bracket).

4.12. Pick the Pen Tool (P) and use it to create a shape as shown below. Then fill it with the linear gradient. Do the same to create other shapes more and place them to the correct positions as shown in the second image below. Select and group (Ctrl + G) all shapes created in this step. Finally lowered Opacity of this group to 10%.

4.13. Repeat the same techniques for the right part of the jeans. In the end your shape should look roughly like the image below.

Step 5:

5.1 Pick the Pen Tool (P) and use it to create a red shape as shown below. Then fill it with R=167, G=169, B=172 (Stroke=None)

5.2 Continue with the Pen Tool (P). Use it to create a yellow shape as shown in the first image. Next fill this shape with black color (Stroke=None) and send it behind the shape created in the previous step (Ctrl + Left Square Bracket). Finally lowered its Opacity to 90%.

5.3. Duplicate the shape created in the step 5.1 once time (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F). While the resulting shape selected, press the Right Arrow key twice times and then press the Up Arrow key twice times. Then fill this shape with R=0, G=0, B=51 (Stroke=None) Next go to the Effect menu/ Texture/ Texturizer. Follow the data as shown in the second image and then click OK.

5.4. While the resulting shape selected, go to the Object menu/ Path/ Offset Path. In the Offset Path box, enter a -2px Offset and then click OK.

5.5. Fill the newly created shape with None and add a 1px Stroke (R=167, G=169, B=172). Then go to the Window menu/ Stroke (Ctrl+F10). In the Stroke panel, check the Dashed Line box and then enter 2px in the dash box and 2px in the gap box.

5.6. Continue draw other shapes. Then repeat the same techniques as the previous steps. In the end your shape should look roughly like the final image below.

Step 6:

6.1. Pick the Pen Tool (P) and use it to create two yellow shapes as shown below.

6.2. These shapes should be located in the under layer below the shapes created in the step 3.

6.3. Fill them with R=0, G=0, B=31 (Stroke=None).

6.4. While the resulting shapes selected, go to the Effect menu/ Blur/ Gaussian Blur. In the Gaussian Blur, enter a 100px Radius and then click OK.

6.5. The results of the previous step have unwanted blur parts highlighted with red. We will fix this.

6.6. Reselect two shapes created in the step 6.4 and lock them (Ctrl + 2). Then select two shapes as shown in the first image below and duplicate them once time (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F). While the resulting shapes selected, click on the Unite button from the Pathfinder panel. Next press (Ctrl + Shift + Right Square Bracket) to bring the newly created shape to front.

Go to the Object/ Unlock All (Ctrl + Shift + 2). Then select two shapes just unlocked and the group created in the step 6.6. Next go to the Object/ Clipping Mask/ Make (Ctrl + 7).

While the resulting shape selected, press (Ctrl + Right Square Bracket) several times to get the result as shown below.

Step 7:

7.1. Create shapes as shown below by the Pen Tool (P).

7.2. Select two magenta shapes and go to the Object menu/ Path/ Offset Path. In the Offset Path box, enter a -10px Offset and then click OK.

7.3. Select and move anchor points highlighted with yellow to the new positions.

7.4. Duplicate the newly created shape once time (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F) and then press (Ctrl + 2) to lock the resulting shape. Reselect the shape created in the step 7.3 and fill it with the radial gradient.

7.5. While the resulting shape selected, go to the Effect menu/ Texture/ Texturizer. Follow the data as shown below and then click OK.

7.6. Go to the Object menu/ Unlock All (Ctrl + Shift + 2), hold down Shift và click on the bigger magenta shape and click on the Minus Front button from the Pathfinder panel. While the resulting shape selected, go to the Object menu/ Path/ Offset Path. In the Offset Path box, enter a -2px Offset and then click OK.

7.7. Reselect the bigger magenta shape and go to the Effect menu/ Texture/ Texturizer. Follow the data as shown in the first image below and then click OK. Next go to the Effect menu/ Texture/ Underpainting. Enter the data as shown in the second image and then click OK.

7.8. Select the remaining magenta shape and add a 1px Stroke (R=188, G=190, B=192). Then go to the Window menu/ Stroke (Ctrl + F10). In the Stroke panel, check the Dashed Line box. Then enter 2px in the dash box and 2px in the gap box.

7.9. Select and duplicate the shape created in the step 7.5 once time (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F). While the resulting shape selected, go to the Appearance panel and remove all effects of this shape. Next follow the data as shown in the image below.

7.10. Select two anchor points highlighted with red and click on the "Cut path at selected anchor points" button from the Properties bar. Then remove the shape highlighted with the red arrow.

7.11. Repeat the same techniques for the left magenta shapes. In the end your shape should look roughly like the second image below.

7.12. Create a red shape as shown below. Then fill it with R=0, G=0, B=28 (Stroke=None).

7.13. While the resulting shape selected, go to the Effect menu/ Texture/ Texturizer. Follow the data as shown in the first image below and then click OK. Next go to the Effect menu/ Texture/ Underpainting. Enter the data as shown in the second image and then click OK.

7.14. Create four straight lines, then open the Stroke panel and follow the data as shown below.

7.15. Continue create the red shape as shown below and then fill it with R=82, G=2, B=10 (Stroke=None).

7.16. Pick the Type Tool (T) and type text you like.

7.17. Draw two yellow straight lines as shown in the first image. Then open the Stroke panel and follow the data as shown below.

At this time, your shape should look roughly like the image below.

7.18. Select the red shapes and fill them with the linear gradient (Stroke=None).

7.19. Select one of the four resulting shapes and go to the Effect menu/ Texture/ Texturizer. Follow the data as shown in the image below and then click OK.

While the resulting shape selected, go to the Effect menu/ Texture/ Underpainting. Enter the data as shown in the image below.

7.20. Do the same for the remaining shapes.

7.21. Pick the Pen Tool (P) and use it to draw two red lines as shown below.

Continue draw six red lines as shown below.

Select all red lines just created and change their color to R=188, G=190, B=192. Then open the Stroke panel and check the Dashed Line box. Enter 2px in the dash box and 2px in the gap box.

7.22. Fill two yellow shapes with R=0, B=0, G=36 and add a 1px Stroke (R=35, G=31, B=32).

7.23. While the resulting shapes selected, go to the Effect menu/ Texture/ Texturizer. Follow the data as shown below and then click OK.

While the resulting shape selected, go to the Effect menu/ Texture/ Underpainting. Enter the data as shown in the image below.

7.24. Repeat the same techniques for the right yellow shape. In the end your shape should look roughly like the image below.

7.25. Draw two yellow shapes as shown below.

7.26. Select both shapes just created, fill them both with none and add a 1px stroke (R=188, G=190, B=192). Next open the Stroke panel and then check the Dashed Line box. Enter a 2px in the Dash box and enter a 2px in the Gap box.

7.27. Do the same for the right part of the jeans.

7.28. Pick the Pen Tool (P) and use it to create a red shape as shown in the first image. Then fill it with R=0, G=0, B=36 and add a 1px Stroke (R=35, G=31, B=32).

7.29. While the newly created shapes selected, go to the Effect menu/ Texture/ Texturizer. Follow the data as shown below and then click OK. While the resulting shape selected, go to the Effect menu/ Texture/ Underpainting. Enter the data as shown in the image below and click OK.

7.30. Do the same for the right part of the jeans.

7.31. Draw two yellow shapes by the Pen Tool (P). Fill it with none and add a 1px stroke (R=188, G=190, B=192). Next open the Stroke panel and then check the Dashed Line box. Enter a 2px in the Dash box and enter a 2px in the Gap box.

7.32. Do the same for the right part of the jeans.

Step 8:

8.1. Now we’ll create a zipper for the pocket. The final result is below.

8.2. First, use the Pen Tool (P) to create a yellow shape as shown in the first image. Then rotate it to get the result as shown in the second image below.

8.3. Fill the newly created shape with R=0, G=0, B=36 and add a 1px Stroke (R=35, G=31, B=32). Then lowered its Opacity to 50%.

8.4. While the newly created shapes selected, go to the Effect menu/ Texture/ Texturizer. Follow the data as shown in the first image below and then click OK. While the resulting shape selected, go to the Effect menu/ Texture/ Underpainting. Enter the data as shown in the second image below and click OK.

8.5. Use the Pen tool (P) to create a yellow shape as shown in the first image. Next open the Appearance panel and follow the data as shown in the second image.

8.6. Pick the Rounded Rectangle Tool and use it to create a red shape as shown in the first image. Next pick the Ellipse Tool (L) create a 3.5px by 1.5px shape. Place two newly created shapes to correct positions as shown in the second image. Select both shapes and click on the Unite button from the Pathfinder panel. Then fill the resulting shape with the linear gradient. Finally duplicate the newly created shape several times (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F) and place them to correct positions as shown in the final image below.

8.7. Select and group (Ctrl+G) all shapes created in the step 8.6. Then double-click on the Reflect Tool from the Tool pallete. In the Reflect box, check the Horizontal and then click Copy. Next place the resulting group to correct positions as shown in the second image. Finally, fill the newly created group with the linear gradient.

8.8. Draw a yellow shape by the Pen Tool (P) and fill it with the linear gradient. Duplicate (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F) the resulting shape once time. Then press the Right Arrow key twice times and press the Up Arrow key twice times. Finally fill the newly created shape with linear gradient as shown in the third image below.

8.9. Duplicate the newly created shape once time (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F) and press (Ctrl + 3) to hide the resulting shape. Reselect both shapes created in the step 8.8 and go to the Object menu/ Blend/ Blend Options. Follow the data as shown in the first image below and then click OK. Next go to the Object menu/ Blend/ Make (Ctrl+Alt+B). Now press (Ctrl + Alt + 3) to show the shape hidden in the previous step. Fill the shape just showed with the linear gradient. Then duplicate the resulting shape once time (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F) and fill the newly created shape with the linear gradient as shown in the third image below.

8.10. Use the Rectangle Tool (M) to create a 12px by 3px shape. Then go to the Effect menu/ Stylize/ Round Corners. In the Round Corners, enter a 1px Radius and click OK.

8.11. Fill the newly created shape with the linear gradient. Next duplicate (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F) the resulting shape once time. Now fill the newly created shape with none and add a 1px Stroke (R=88, G=89, B=91). Then press (Ctrl + Left Square Bracket) once time to send it backward.

8.12. Reselect the shape just filled in the previous step and duplicate it once time (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F). While the resulting shape selected, press the Up Arrow key three times and then press the Left Arrow key four times. Next fill the newly created shape with the linear gradient as shown in the second image below.

8.13. Reselect both shapes just filled and go to the Object menu/ Blend/ Blend Options. Enter the data as shown below and then click OK. Then go to the Object menu/ Blend/ Make (Ctrl + Alt + B).

8.14. Pick the Rectangle Tool (M) and use it to create a 10 by 15px shape. Next select the left-top corner anchor point and press the Right arrow key three times. Continue select the right-top corner anchor point and press the Left arrow key three times. Switch the Add Anchor Point Tool (+) and click on two positions highlighted with red. Then select two anchor points highlighted with green and click on the "Convert selected anchor points to smooth" button from the Properties bar. In the end your new shape should look like the fifth image shown.

8.15. Now use the Ellipse Tool (L) to create a red shape and place it to correct position as shown in the first image. Then select both newly created shapes and click on the Unite button from the Pathfinder panel. While the resulting shape selected, go to the Object menu/ Path/ Offset Path. In the Offset Path box, enter a -2px Offset and then click OK. Next select four anchor points highlighted with yellow in the newly created shape and click on the "Cut path at selected anchor points" button from the Properties bar. Then remove two shapes selected as shown in the fourth image below.

8.16. Select two anchor points highlighted with yellow and click on the "Connect selected end points" button from the Properties bar. Next select two anchor points highlighted with green and click on the "Connect selected end points" button. Now select all red shapes and click on the Exclude button from the Pathfinder panel. Fill the newly created shape with the linear gradient and then duplicate it once time (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F). While the resulting shape selected, press the Right arrow key once time and press the Down arrow key once time. Then replace the existing color with R=109, G=110, B=113 and send it backward (Ctrl + Left Square Bracket). Finally select and group (Ctrl + G) all shapes created from beginning step 8.14 to this time.

8.17. Place the newly created group to the correct position as shown in the first image below. Next select the shape created in the step 8.13 and bring it front (Ctrl + Shift + Right Square Bracket).

8.18. Pick the Pen Tool (P) and use it to create a red shape. Continue create a yellow shape and place it to the correct position as shown in the second image.

Fill two newly created shapes with the linear gradient as shown below.

8.19. Select and group (Ctrl + G) all shapes created from beginning step 8.2 to this time. Then rotate this group an angle of about -20 degrees and place it to the correct position as shown in the first image below. While the newly created group selected, double-click on the Reflect Tool from the Tool pallete. In the Reflect, check the Vertical section and then click Copy. Finally place the resulting group to the correct position as shown in the second image below.

8.20. Adjust two zippers a bit to get the result as shown below.

Step 9 :

9.1. Create a 15 by 15px shape and fill it with R=35, G=31, B=32. Duplicate this shape once time (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F), then reduce the size of the resulting shape a bit and fill it with R=147, G=149, B=152. Duplicate the newly created shape twice times (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+F). Continue create a new ellipse shape and fill it with R=209, G=211, B=212. Then place it to the position as shown in the third image. Select two shapes as shown in the third image and click on the Intersect button from the Pathfinder panel. Continue create a new ellipse shape as shown in the fifth image and fill it with R=209, G=211, B=212. Next select two shapes as shown in the fifth image and click on the Intersect button.

9.2. Select both newly created shapes and go to the Effect menu/ Blur/ Gaussian Blur. In the Gaussian Blur box, enter a 3px Radius and then click OK. Next select all shapes created from beginning step 9.1 to this time and group them (Ctrl + G).

9.3. From the newly created group, create two new groups as shown below.

9.4. Place newly created groups to the correct positions as shown below.

Step 10:

10.1. Pick the Pen Tool (P) and use it to create a yellow shape as shown in the first image below. Then fill it with the linear gradient. Finally lowered its Opacity to 5%.

10.2. Continue create shapes as shown below. Then fill them with the linear gradient as the previous step. Finally lowered their Opacity to 5%.

In the end your shape should look roughly like the image below.

The final image is below. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Have fun !

Final Result

Here’s the final result. I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial.

Conclusion

As difficult as it looks I’m very sure if you follow my tutorial you will find a lot of help using your skills and images to produce your own creation! Ones again Thank you for using our tutorial, we will be very happy to answer any questions that you may have, You can simply leave a feedback and or a comment bellow.

These types of corporate identities are often developed by large firms who specialize in this type of work. However, if you want to save some bucks and want to design your logo then there are many sources to get logo design inspiration. Infect, we might able to help you by presenting this showcase of Highly beautiful, original and creative logo designs for your design inspiration.

All of these logos are very creative and following different trends like PhotoFill, Concealed, VariDots, Candy Stripe, Flip Flop, Sequential, but most importantly Texting which is a common element among all of them. Also, try to catch how they created using specific colors combination, typography adjustments and font selection.

You may be interested in the following related articles as well.

• Logo Designs For Design Inspiration – Part I, Part II
• 20 Sources To Get Logo Design Inspiration
• Single Page Website Designs For Design Inspiration – Part I, Part II
• 100+ Best Web Galleries Around for Your Inspiration
• Super-Clean and Minimal Web Designs
• Showcase Of Professional Looking Website Designs

Feel free to join us and you are always welcome to share your thoughts that our readers may find helpful.

Don’t forget to subscribe to our RSS-feed and follow us on Twitter — for recent updates.

Latest Logo Designs for Design Inspiration

HE Logo

Learngolf

Hangzhou Polar Ocean Park

Wildlife studios

Panda

Don Cafeone

Gorilla service

Negative Reality

ONE

Falcon Eye

Photocloud

5 LOCKS

Space Settings

Julian Restaurant

Marcin Zasada-Logo

Foxeffect

Eighteen

Red Fish

Bright Carrot

Viking

Wingo

Vivo

Elf Handmade

Foot

Green One

Flatten Image

Bike Geek

Water Reuse

Factory Business

Nexya

Houseclip Housing

Deerta

Birdwatching

Overly Accessorized

Art Totem Logo

Zebra

Cobalt Brothers

Cobalt Brothers

Exotic Sushi

Envato Labs

Vineria

Ecotamak Logo

HillRoad

Firebrand

Movie Quotes

New Zealand Wine

Littleworker

Mihailovskaya

Weway Media

TuffBoon

Soleda

Dialogue Logo

DS monogram

Greenaid

MrWrite

Radico

Sneaky Elephant

FrenchWine

Seattle Learning Academy

Print City

Hunter

Digital Rose

Fat and Happy

Ferrethills

Deer

Launched Design

Slowmotion – Student Work

Find Something Missing?

Feel free to share any other logo design that you think would be a great addition in above collection and that has not been featured already.

The last five years are considered a real boom because of the new online stars: the blogs. Initially these were created for fun or to make certain feelings public, but nowadays there is nothing not to be mentioned at least on a dozen of blogs. I do not believe that there could be a piece of information available that hasn’t been mentioned in the entire blogosphere.

The huge number of blogs and the easiness of creating one conducted to the wrong mentality that anyone may be a blogger and quite probably, after a year or two the respective website could bring a profit formed from many zeroes. In spite of these, the creation, the maintenance, and the monetization of a blog aren’t really that simple and solid knowledge is mandatory. Many people interested in the web have attempted to launch a blog and expected that in few months they will become a star but this didn’t happen; much more, only a very limited number of tries were successful and even a smaller category have managed to obtain a good income from blogging activities.

Statistics offer various percentages of the heavy traffic blogs but the common item is the reduced number of these; without any doubt, a blog is more than handling a post in WordPress and publishing it, in fact there is a huge endeavor before launching it. The decisions made before any post is online are capital, many bloggers have simply ignored these, and the result wasn’t gratifying. This post represents a complete strategy of what should be done before launching a blog, each checkpoint having a clear explanation, therefore the lecture will be enjoyable and the learning process will be easier and logical.

As everything in this world, the post isn’t perfect and any reader is welcomed to correct or to share his opinions with us, the more comments, the more interesting the post will be.

1. Choose a topic + a domain + target public

It’s very simple to say that tomorrow you will launch a blog but the work to practically do it is incomparable to anything you might have done before. The first decision made by a new blogger is to establish very clearly the topic/topics debated on the blog. This choice is capital, it determines the future of the blog and the categories of people to visit it. Some people choose general subjects, which isn’t wrong, but they must be aware that these are very debated by more experienced bloggers and the blogger must come with something new and original to attract visitors; thus, the volume of work is bigger than selecting a more targeted topic.

Selecting the topic just because it has the potential to attract Internet users is another mistake, the blogger must know very well about what he writes, the more experience he has in the chosen domain, the bigger his chance of the blog being visited. Nobody will waste minutes reading something which isn’t interesting or useful.

An entity that may reveal which is the subject of a blog and people care about, is the domain name; an irrelevant one that has nothing in common with the issues presented has slight chances of attracting other people. Choosing the best domain name is a very large matter that is the subject of a book but the most important tips are:

• the domain name must be relevant to the issues presented;
• it shouldn’t be very long;
• it should be easy to memorize.

Each new blog must be created to inform and delight the visitors but people surfing on web have very different hobbies and necessities hence it is recommended to select only a category of people to write for. In this manner, a community is created around the blog and they are transformed into a trustworthy source of constant traffic. The conclusion is clear, before you start writing the first posts, it is mandatory to imagine the profile of the reader and write for him, not for you or the search engines.

2. Select a reliable hosting company

There is nothing more annoying for a blogger than to manage attracting visitors but the host not to have the same high standards. The problem of hosting shouldn’t be very difficult because the offer is various and the stringent competition guarantees the existence on the market of only the best providers. The cost of hosting is also important but the spending isn’t very high, a reliable firm with an adequate plan is the best byname to solve this matter.

3. Carefully study the potential competitors

Blogging supposes a living competition between bloggers and here the old principle from Sun Tzu may be applied – “to conquer your enemies, it is mandatory to know them very well”. A new blogger willing to really gain money from blogging and to turn into a web star must know all the competitors, their strong or weak points but also the harsh competition shouldn’t be transformed into enmity. Being competitors doesn’t mean that you should hate any other blogger or disregard his activity, take the example of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates and their long relationship.

Studying carefully the competitors is advantageous because it allows an easier and complete determination of the quality of the posts, the specific structure, or the strong points of each one and without these it is hard to write something original or something that isn’t fully covered in the blogosphere. Engaging in discussions with other bloggers is also beneficial for both sides: each person has at least one original idea and by exchanging these, the community will benefit with richer and more useful blogs. The friendship with other blog owners or writers may be the binder that has put the basis of a future collaboration or a reciprocal advertising of the posts.

4. The design of the blog – Try to be the best

Even if the content is the one that interests a visitor, the design is still very important and it may be an attraction for random surfers. The beauty of a design is important but it must be also functional and accessible. A layout that doesn’t help the readers and makes the lecture a hell surely will scare away all the visitors and the final result will be a disaster. The layout may be obtained from three parts, each one having its own set of advantages and disadvantages :

• Buy a theme from various online markets and customize it; the price is very advantageous, the problem of time is satisfactory but there is a great chance of already existing websites built upon the same theme, hence originality won’t be your strongest point.
• Create a layout and make a website but this requires the respective blogger to be skilled in HTML and CSS. This option is free, you are the creator of the blog, the time spent depends only on your own forces and the money invested is zero.
• Hire a designer who is talented and ready to be hired, this solution guarantees that the layout will be original but at the same time the payment should require a fair amount of money.

In conclusion, no matter which solution is taken, there are advantages and disadvantages but what is really important is the quality of the design.

5. Pay attention to SEO- hire a SEO specialist or try yourself, anyway do not neglect this!

Any blog success is strictly determined by the number of visitors, the more, the better. The best blogs truly offer quality posts and useful advice but there is a little trick that makes the difference: “the friendship” with the search engines. A blog that is liked by the crawlers of the search engines will appear on the first positions and this means a higher chance of being visited. Any responsible blogger pays attention to SEO (Search Engine Optimization) because it is the key of heavy traffic which means money, so now it is clearer, SEO is money!

On the other hand, writing only for SEO purposes is quickly penalized by humans and all the endeavors are in vain.

6. Establish the strategy of the blog: number of posts/week, their format, the usual length, the style adopted

From now the real work of blogger starts, writing and analyzing the result of one’s work. One of the most important feature of the blogs is the consistency, usually the posts must have a similar topic, a specific structure etc. Another important blog feature is the following of a clear schedule, if you consider the best solution to post only Monday, Wednesday and Friday do it, but keep this program or else the incoherence will be penalized by visitors.

I recommend making a good reserve of posts before starting to put the first article online, nobody knows what could happen if you weren’t available to maintain the blog for some days. Word Press is making possible to schedule the publication of the posts in advance hence you can take a nice trip and the blog is running with no delay. There is no strict formula but from my experience added up with some conclusions of my debates with other bloggers, it is better to have the posts for a week assured or more simply, you are writing today the post to be published next week.

It’s great to respect a posting schedule and to have a good reserve of posts and many bloggers are doing it but they forget a more important issue, the visitors aren’t coming just because you publish a post, they want quality and the same style that is liked by them. In this way, I give you another pretty cool tip: the same as the developers are keeping separately the files that improve the look of a website, the so named CSS external sheet, a blogger must establish a complete draft containing all the necessary details to write a post. It’s capital to maintain the same style, some surely won’t like it but 100% there are people who will enjoy your kind of exposing. Don’t get it wrong, a very clear delimited style doesn’t mean that it blocks the evolution, it’s only necessary to look professional.

7. Propose clear and realistic checkpoints according to a marketing strategy

Some people are more optimistic and they will be always content with their work on the blog while others will be always sad because they don’t get the traffic desired, some even believe that “the planet is sinking”. In order to have an objective opinion about the future evolution of the blog, a wise person will setup some realistic targets and carefully keep these. In fact, these must be a part of a more complex marketing strategy which is capital for any blog (some people, including me, have the tendency to use very radical terms as capital, vital or important and sometimes maybe they overestimate the real situation but here capital is really capital). I want to believe that the quality is by far, the most important, but as I gain more and more experience, I see the marketing even more important. What do you think: is marketing more important than the quality of the posts?

Anyway, there is enough to understand that marketing and branding are important only by randomly reading some posts of the most important bloggers. The conclusion is simple: before launching a blog that must be visited and be appreciated by people as a reference entity in blogosphere a concrete marketing strategy is mandatory. This must include realistic goals and deadlines, the evolution must be efficiently controlled, and the wish to improve it is the fuel of success.

8. Promote its launch, create a Facebook page, and ask for opinions

The days until the first post is published are very few and the excitement is high. Another mandatory step is the creating of a Twitter and Facebook account, the power of social media is high and neglecting it is almost a blogger sin.

An imperceptible sign of professionalism is the customization of these accounts, the more and interesting they are, the better. Facebook pages are created for everyone and everything, it’s impossible not to get bored by, but an original one has bigger chances of being liked by people. Twitter customization consists mostly in having a cool background and an interesting bio, the Internet is full of amazing examples of well done graphical realization, inspire and create something special for you. The customization is in vain if the accounts aren’t active and professionally maintained.

Social networks do not refer only to Facebook and Twitter, the most targeted ones are very important and from these a lot of traffic may come, therefore don’t stop only to the most used ones.

Don’t be afraid to promote these pages, step by step a community is forming and the first members must be your close friends, even the pages of Justin Bieber or Britney Spears start from “0 likes.”

9. Think twice before publishing the first post; are you sure about your intentions

I may be accused of inserting unnecessary steps in this list, I must apologize to the ones that believe this but once again I emphasize the difference between pleasure and business. A blog just for the owner and his friends is a thing; a blog to be monetized is a completely different job where hard work and consistency are the pillars of the development. My personal advice is not to quit launching the blog but don’t expect for miracles to happen and immediate opportunities to gain money. I have just launched a blog and all my friends asked my how much money I gain…when they found out that some months are necessary until the first hundred of dollars would be in my account they accused me of making bad affairs.

This is my message and I hope to understand what I advised you.

10. Prepare yourself for a huge volume of work and difficult moments

There come another negative aspect, the blogging activities are time consuming and very few of them manage to obtain a balanced report between personal life and work (not me!). The family, the relatives and close friends must be aware that the respective blog isn’t only a passion that take you from the daily life and keep in front of the computer. A quality blog is pretty like a brick and mortar business, you invest money, work, and time and expect profit; obviously, a healthy affair can’t produce huge profits instantly.

In the end, I want to run away this pessimistic final and encourage you to try blogging, nobody was born blogger and all of us make mistakes. The most important bloggers aren’t necessarily the most talented designers or the smartest people, they are keeping up the work even the results weren’t from the start very satisfactory. Take their example and don’t look back!

Image Credits

• Three red darts on target
• Portrait of a angry group
• Thinking

In this presentation, you’ll find a variety of highly-creative, beautiful and most importantly inspirational designs which is following the same trend of single page designs.

The main purpose here is to stimulate your creativity and to inspire your imagination to create your own design trend because your website represents you and your brand.

Don’t forget to subscribe to our RSS-feed and follow us on Twitter — for recent updates.

Single Page Website Designs for Design Inspiration

Throughout history, great artists always found new ways to show their creativity to express themselves and create new trends and techniques to remark their work apart from the rest of the crowd. The Definition of design is more critical in modern terms as now design is a way of communication; and, more specifically, Web design is a well define platform for content. There is no “Good” and “Bad” in design. It always define as a “Different”.

Is It Worth It

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Rtraction

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Graydenpoper

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Fly.twitter

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Mediapointstudios

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Hellokarb

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Dangersoffracking

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Thechristmastree

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Para.llel

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Chris-wang

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Zerobundle

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Eight Media

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Augustinba

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Andypatrickdesign

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Onlinejaarverslag

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Jibevisuals

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Urbangap

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Slaveryfootprint

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We-new

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Harrisonpensa

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Jesselcampbell

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Kisielki

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Skidpasset

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Cloudstud.io

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Youandigraphics

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Atentedaffair

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Evoluxion

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Bluebitbox

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Startups

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Grazsecrets

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Dwd.co

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Tobiasblumtritt

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Lewisking

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Gillesmanzato

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Attackemart.in

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Holidays.virb

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Marlinjackson

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Teamfactory

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Hoynebrewing

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Connaxis

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Jonathlee

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Drewvergara

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Bradevansdesign

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Colorfulvisuals

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Stephensuess

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Pasadena

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Mpvolantinaggio

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Citizencope

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Gdevelopment

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CSSrefresh

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Icons4coffee

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Jaradjohnson

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Divstudio

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Makearea

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Resolutionim

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Imperocharitybash

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Barmybritain

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Micons

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Tonifisler

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Pixelhubcreative

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Kanishtha

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Jonrundle

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Valterbicudo

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Find Something Missing?

While compiling this list, it’s always a possibility that we missed some other great single page resources. Feel free to share it with us.

Browse a lot of sports magazines or photography websites to get an idea and feel of the game.

Things Which are Important

Camera

Camera can be a simple one as long its limitations are clearly understood. A simple camera can successfully show scenes at the start of an event or overall view of the event, but close shots of runners or close shots of happenings at the goal-post in a football or hockey match can be executed only by a specialist camera. Today, all photography of sports is confined to 35 mm cameras, and that too the single-lens reflex cameras. The chief advantages are their interchangeability of lenses and availability of very fast lenses (with big apertures) for capturing action at high shutter speeds. Besides, motorized drives make it possible to take as many as 36 exposures in quick succession. Modern 35 mm cameras have shutter speeds of up to 1/8000th of a second and many sophisticated models can shoot up to 6 to 9 frames in a second. This enables the photographer to make a choice of the best action shot.

Lens

Although it is desirable to shoot action from a closer distance with a standard 50 mm lens, this is often not possible. The technique is therefore to use telephoto lenses to photograph distant action from close up. Depending upon the closeness required, a sports photographer can choose from the large range of telephoto lenses available in the market. Depending upon the financial resources, one can choose from the most sophisticated models of telephoto lenses with fast shutter speeds.

The most popular lens, almost a must for any serious sports photographer, is a 300 mm lens with f-2.8 aperture. The fast aperture of f-2.8 enables action to be photographed at high shutter speeds, even in weak light. In a sport like badminton, where flash photography is strictly prohibited, this lens helps a lot.

Film

To catch action it becomes imperative to go in for fast films like 400 ASA, although increase in grain is expected. In certain sports, grain in tolerated as long as action is fully caught by the camera. The higher the speed of the film, the coarser is the grain, although films of 400 ISO were much more grainy 10 years ago as compared to films of today.

Exposure

Like any photography the exposure in sports photography is dependent on the light available where the event is taking place. At the same time, the shutter speed must be able to arrest the movement of the subject. Since action shots are only possible at wide apertures, shallow depth of field is natural, which cannot be avoided.

Different Scenarios

Fast and furious

If you want to photograph fast moving objects, then practice is the best way of achieving good results. The more shots you take the better you will get at them. Some circuits have a Plexiglas safety screen in place on top of the pit wall, so even if you manage to get that dose, if you were to try and take a shot through it you would get lots of reflection. Occasionally, however, you may achieve an effective blend of reflection and subject, which you can ascribe to your photographic artistry. Such pictures are often town to pure luck rather than judgment.

However, even professional photographers, especially those who specialize in motor racing, will often take hundreds of shots which end up being discarded for the one, “spot on” image. A good example is the speeding car on the track, where practice really does make perfect.

It takes a lot of practice to get a fast moving car where you want it on frame. You need to catch the essence of speed. With the speeds that some of these rating cars reach, it is not surprising that there is little time for focusing the shot, getting the light correct and composing the photo. Before you know it the noise has faded into the distance and the trade is again bare. Most beginners will end up with lots of shots of empty track. Usually, this is because digital cameras take some time to acquire a focus point and the subject has passed by the time the shutter is released. To get around this, it is a good idea to get the camera focused in on a particular section of track, and then as the car comes into the frame, release the shutter. The more times you have a go, the better the shots.

Capturing the action

Many sports and pastimes are just as fast and furious as motor racing, but require different skills with the camera to capture the action and excitement of specific events or fixtures. Next time you go down to the sports center for a game of squash, cheer on your favorite football team or watch a game of cricket on the village green, make sure you take your digital camera with you. You will find a wealth of opportunities for taking action pictures at every event.

For sporting events particularly, it would be rare for you to be close up to the action. Most digital cameras offer a zoom option to get you closer to the subject, whether it be the cricketer at the crease striking the ball, a footballer at the far side of the pitch sliding in for a tackle or two fencers dueling it out in a competition. Although built-in zooms are fairly modest in comparison with the add-on professional zoom lenses you can buy, they can certainty bring you closer, filling the frame and magnifying the subject.

The same problems encountered with motor racing photography are also present at other fast and furious sporting events. The same principle of using faster shutter speeds to capture the fast-moving subject is equally relevant. This can look impressive when taking shots of water sports. With a bit of practice, you can capture the drops of water held suspended in the air for a moment in time, giving the picture a sense of movement.

Capturing the people

You need great timing to take good photographs of people playing sports. As with most pastimes, it is the people that really matter at these events, and you can often capture a sense of excitement through the faces and expressions of the people involved, as well as the spectators. Using a tripod to ensure a completely steady shot or getting up high for an unusual overhead shot are all great devices for taking varied pictures of people and events.

Capturing the flavor

If I were to stick to just taking photographs of speeding cars in an attempt to portray what motor racing is all about to a novice, then I believe I would have failed in getting over the true flavor of the sport. A day at a racing circuit is not just about high speed cars – as exciting as they are in their own right. The day is made up of people, events taking place around the circuit unrelated to motor racing, the noises and smells of gasoline and engines. A race day has real atmosphere.

Although it is impossible to capture the noise and smells in a photograph, it is possible to portray a flavor of the day’s events. And this involves taking photos of the more unusual, rather than the obvious. Wander around with your camera, away from where most people think the action is taking place! Think about the unusual angle – get down low or else find a position high above everyone. Take a look at what people not involved in the action are doing; find the incongruous scene – Morris dancers at an outdoor rock festival, for example. Look for all the peripheral activities. For example, quad bikes towing racing tyres on a rack along the pit lane at a racing circuit. If you are trying to produce a photographic record of life at a circuit – for a magazine article, for instance – shots like these can be very useful as they give the reader more of a sense of the day; someone looking at images of varied events and activities can feel the flavor of the experience as if they had been there.

All sorts of strange activities go into making up a weekend at a motor racing circuit – some of them creating great photographic opportunities!

Paint it red

Every weekend, thousands of us indulge in all sorts of sports and leisure activities that involve getting dirty. Others involve putting on uniforms, such as when you take part in paint-balling session. I decided not to risk my camera in the “killing zone”; since it was quite clear it could have been badly damaged. The safety regulations prevented us from removing our masks once out of the relaxation area anyway, and there was no way I could have taken any decent pictures with my mask still on. This is the kind of detail you need to pay attention to if you want to take photographs at many events.

Techniques in Some Events

The techniques for taking good sports photographs vary from the event to event and a few sporting events are listed below:

Skating – The ideal position for photographing a skating event is on the outside of the track where skaters can be taken head-on. The camera should be pre-focused at the spot where the skaters would be in best action/posture.

Tennis – Two best positions on the tennis court are either the center of the sides or at the server’s ends. A slightly elevated angle is still better. Here again a particular zone can be selected and shot when action takes place there. But all this is getting obsolete as very fast auto-focus lenses are available today where no time is wasted in focusing.

Hockey – Here again the best position is the ‘striking circle’. Fast shutter speeds, 1/500th of a second and above, are needed to catch the fast movement of sticks and balls.

Wrestling and boxing – The ideal position is either at the ringside so that the camera can shoot through the ropes or in the gallery with a long telephoto lens. In wrestling, action is slower than in boxing but we have to be prepared for some very rapid action. Existing light gives modeling effect.

Golf – We have to remember that silence is needed when the golfers are concentrating on the game. It should be seen that the photograph is clicked either after the action or much before the player has actually gone into deep concentration.

Cricket – Here the best position is somewhere above the ground level so that the camera looks down on the players against the background of the pitch. Very powerful telephoto lenses – minimum of 500 mm – are a must to take action photos.

Some Useful Tips When you Take Sports Photographs

Whenever you attend events where there are going to be lots of people and therefore lots of pushing and squeezing through crowd, you must ensure that your camera is protected and that you can keep hold of it. Your camera case therefore needs to be fairly robust to withstand the inevitable banging against people and objects.

• The zoom can bring you closer to the action and fills the frame with your subject.
• Take some shots where there is a lot of activity going on, for added interest.
• Photography of sporting activity can include not only the highlights of the action but it can also give some sense of the hours of instruction needed to learn a skill.
• One of the difficult with sports is that with so much happening in the background it can be hard to concentrate on the foreground action.
• The better you know a sport the better able you will be to anticipate the action.
• Great sports photography is not just about showing the game. Only those who have taken part in a sport really know what it feels like, but we can use whatever photographic techniques that are available to us to show something of the spirit. A relatively long exposure – ¼ sec – blurs the action, but it takes many attempts to find an image that balances blur with discernible shape.
• Sports photography needs special equipment (long telephoto lenses) and it also requires the precision, at which the shutter is pressed.
• To freeze the action is sports photography; very fast shutter speeds (1/1000 sec) are needed. This necessitates the use of widest possible aperture (f1.4 or f2) available on prime telephoto lenses.
• Finding a good vantage point for sports photography is important. For racing, it may be the curve of the track, where racers pass in succession, or it may be the end of the track where the winner hits the ribbon!
• The best times to click the shutter are when the action is at its peak, like a serving (in tennis), challenging the opponent (in Basketball), or at the hit of the ball (as in golf or cricket). In football, best shots are often taken in front of the net.
• Also keep a watch on players’ expressions, like at the start of a race (when the bullet fires) or even after losing a game!
• Use panning or zooming techniques where required, to capture the action at its best.
• It is said that if you see it, you have lost it! The fraction of second that it takes for you to see and click the shutter, the moment is already lost.
• “Anticipation” is the keyword in sports photography. Some cameras offer continues shooting mode, which can be effectively utilized for sports photography.
• Pre-focus at some point in the ground where the action is expected to happen. Half press the shutter, and when that decisive moment happens, click the shutter fully.
• High camera positions show the pattern of the game, while low camera position captures the player’s dynamism.

Image Credits

• Race cars racing at the grand prix
• Group of young people playing
• Two young sporty female tennis players

When doing any work, it is beneficial to maintain a task list and to set goals. This article will discuss how to do certain tasks and reach simple goals in order to help you build a customer base from which you’ll eventually reap benefits.

Establishing Brand Recognition and Using Email Marketing

Every business owner should advertise their brand, and they can do it with email marketing. Hither-and-thither emails or advertisements won’t accomplish anything; even emails should have objectives if you expect them to bring traffic to you or serve as something worthy for both your customers and yourself. Know your objectives.

The main purpose of almost every business is to make money, and you’ll be more likely to do that the more people recognize your brand. These should be your ultimate objectives. Keep them in mind and stay focused on them. These goals, however broad in scope they sound, will help you make decisions.

Define your other objectives as well. Here are a few objectives associated with email marketing:

Put Good Content in Your Emails

The content of your emails will become familiar to your customers. When they like the content of your email, they’ll forward it to their contacts, which will help your brand spread. When they don’t like the emails, they might ignore or delete them, and they might leave future mails unread. Make sure your emails are worth opening.

Write Catchy Email Subject Lines

The email content is important, but the subject line might be more so. Most email programs display only the subject line and the “from” line in the inbox; use that space well if you expect recipients to read your email.

Send Just the Right Number of Emails

Pick a number, any number—no, not any number. Repetitive or too-frequent emails might bore or irritate recipients, and they could ignore or delete your emails. At worst, they’ll unsubscribe. Yet recipients will forget you if you send too few. Set a number or determine a suitable frequency for sending emails based on your update schedule or other business strategies.

Manage Your Email List Wisely

This is another important step in email marketing. Speak to the appropriate audience; your efforts will be wasted if you don’t. Make different lists to address different groups of people (based on their interests, demographics or psychographics).

Building Traffic and Increasing Sales

Your immediate objective, after making money, is to make a profit, and email marketing is one of the easiest and best ways to increase sales and build traffic. To increase traffic to your website or blog, follow certain techniques in your email messages. A few are discussed below.

Add Links to Your Email Content

Include links in your emails if you want customers to go further than their inboxes. You can’t write every useful thing in one email, but you also need to equip your customers with the knowledge they’ll need to go forward. Recipients can click on your links to visit your website or blog, follow your news updates or learn about a new launch. Useful linking teaches your customers to trust you as a source, and their trust becomes your profit.

Write Easy-to-Follow Email Copy

Don’t make anything difficult for your customers. Provide steps to follow that make tasks simple. For example, send special offers or distribute coupons via phone messages so that the coupons are easy to use. Set up online registration, online payment methods or home delivery to make purchasing easy. In one word: simplify.

Offer Options

If possible, offer more than one option for every task you want your customers doing. For example, offer a variety of ways to pay: debit, credit, payment after delivery and so on. Let them place orders by email or over the phone. Options let people feel in control, and customers will return if they feel they’ve gotten their way.

Encourage Repeat Business

Building a customer base will be possible only when your customers become regular. It’s important that your customers like and trust you, especially if you want them to return. Show a customer that they’re important and the relationship is already established. Say someone buys a watch from your website. Don’t forget about them. Send them emails to let them know about other offers, updates or product details. Ask for feedback about the watch; do they like it? These things motivate customers to trust and recommend you to others. To increase your repeat traffic, use the following techniques in your emails:

• Stay in touch, and never be out of touch for long. Send regular emails and be visible so as not to fade from your customers’ minds. But don’t bore or irritate them; put creative content and updates in your emails.
• Reward repeat and regular customers with giveaways or other incentives. They’ll feel valued and special, and it will probably remind them to stick with you.
• Giveaways bring new traffic and repeat traffic. Announce offers with free gifts or gift coupons. This will invite new people to try your products and regular customers to come back for more.
• Lower your prices. It’s one of the easiest ways to bring traffic.

Maintaining Your Customer Relationships

A customer base—perhaps this is obvious—is a list of customers, which means a list of people who have already bought your product. It’s not a list of leads.

In marketing, you’ll be explaining the same two things over and over again in different ways: how buying your product will help people, and why they should choose you and not others. Explain these things in a straightforward and informative manner.

While making yourself accessible, stay on top of your contact list. Provide reminders and options for updating personal information for your website customers (let them change their email addresses or phone numbers if need be, or you could end up sending emails to unused or deleted accounts). In the process of building a customer base, you cannot afford to lose any customer.

Write Interactive Emails

Establish interactive relationships. When you send emails to your customers, include a typing field in which they can give you feedback or ask questions. Participate in discussions with them, and avoid automated or repetitious emails. Automated emails can upset the balance of a personal relationship. Here are few ways to make your emails interactive.

• Ask for reviews and feedback about products, content, user experience or anything;
• Ask questions or offer fodder for debate on contentious issues to get readers thinking through their own opinions and responding to yours;
• Ask for confirmation emails with purchases, and follow up with thank-you emails;
• Answer common questions from customers in newsletters or emails;
• Provide a link from your email to your help center or support system.

Maintain Your Online Presence

Maximize the activity of your blog, if you have one. Your content is no good if it’s too old. Update often. Share useful information, launch new products, make announcements and so on to keep your website fresh. It will help you stay ahead of your competition.

Give your audience a voice on your blog or website. Have one-on-one sessions with your customers if possible, and you’ll gain their trust and repeat visits. Always respond to comments on your blog and queries on your website.

Summary: The Steps

The importance of setting goals has been discussed in the earlier section of the article. To summarize:

1. Determine your ultimate goals. State and support them with reason and strategic thinking.
2. List your customers. Organize the information you have, and keep track of your target audience. Address different audiences according to their various needs.
3. Draw up a schedule, and decide what steps you’ll take at which junctures.

Now, how to build a customer base:

4. Spread the word about your business. Send emails, advertise and ask for referrals from your existing customers. Offer referral incentives or gifts to build goodwill.
5. Ask for the contact details of your customers and keep them updated. For example, when a customer buys a cell phone from you, collect their number. You can do so through a feedback form as well. If you manage a website, you can ask for contact details through registration or a log-in form. This will enable you to send emails to your customers.
6. When your customers share their contact details, they expect something valuable in return, so provide useful information in your emails.
7. Offering coupons is a great way to build traffic. Offer coupons for anything that might benefit your customers, and put limitations on such coupons to make your customers take an immediate action.
8. Offer free gifts or incentives to existing customers. Announce such offers on your website or in emails so that new customers know the benefits of becoming a registered or regular customer.
9. Create a new website or a sister website to support your established website or business. This will help you to build more links and contacts.
10. Advertise your business through online or offline advertisements. Make yourself visible.
11. Create a logo or slogan for your business. They’re memorable and they communicate your message quickly and succinctly.
12. Send festive emails or offers on special occasions such as Christmas and New Year.
13. Gather testimonials; ask others to speak well of you and use it to your advantage.

Conclusion

This article has discussed the importance of setting goals and has offered some ideas for achieving those goals. If it helps, write your goals out and, beside them, write out the steps you’ll take to achieve them. It could help you stay focused and on task. In addition to all these steps, techniques and tips, remember that quality is what really builds every customer base. Never compromise quality. Provide the best to your customers and they’ll do the same for you.

Image Credits

• Smiles
• Letter Held In Hand
• Target your Customers
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